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THE DARLINGTON HERALD. VOL. I DARLINGTON, S? C M WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 1891. NO. 47. CHURCHES. Presbyterian Church.—Rev. J. G. Law, Pastor; Preaching every Sabbath at Hi a. m. and 8 p. m. Sabbath School at 10 a. m., Prayer Meeting every Wednesday afterno on at 3 o'clock. Methodist Church. - Rev. J. A. Rice. Paator; Preaching every Sunday at Hi a. m. and 8 p. m., Sabbath School at S p. m., Prayer Meeting every Thursday at 8 p. m. Baptist Church.—Rev. G. B. Moore, Paster; Preaching every Sunday at 11 j a. m and 8:30 p. m., Prayer Meeting every Tuesday at 8 p. m. Episcopal Chapel.—Rev. W. A. Guerry, Rector; H. T. Thompson, Lay Reader. Preaching 3rd Sunday at 8:30 p. m., Lay Reading every Sunday morn ing at 11 o'clock, Sabbath School every Sunday afternoon at 5 o’clock. Macedonia Baptist Church.— Rev I. P. Breckington, Pastor; Preaching every Sunday at 11 a. m. and 8:30 p. m. Sabbath School at 3:30 p.m., Prayer Meeting every Tuesdav evening at 8:30 o’clock. COUNTY OFFICERS. Sheriff.—W. P. Cole. Clerk of Court.—W. A. Parto.t Treasurer.—J. E. Bass. Auditor.—W. H. Lawrence. • Probate Judge.—T. H. Spain. Coroner.—R. G. Parnell. School Commissioner.—W. £1. Evans. County Commissioners.—C. B.King, W. W. McKinzie, A. A. Gandy. ^professional €arbs. w. F. DARGAN, ATTORNEY AT LAW. Darlington, C. H., S. C. Office over Blackwell Brothers' store. E. KEITH DARGAN, ATTORNEY AT : LAW, Darlington, S. C. N ETTLES & NETTLES, ATTORNEY'S AT LAW Darlington, C. H., S. C. Will practice in all State and Federal Courts. Careful attention will bj given io all business entrusted to us. P BISHOP PARROTT, fiTENOGRAPIIER AND T Y P E-WRITER. LEGAL AND OTHER COPYING SOLICITED. Teitimony leported in short-hand, and type written transcript of same fur nished at reasonable rates. Good spelling, correct punctuation and neat work guaranteed. Office with Nettles & Nettles. 0 P DARGAN, ATTORNEY AT LAW AND TRIAL - JUSTICE, Darlington, S. C. Practice* in the United States Court and in the 4th and 5th circuits. Prompt attention to all business entrusted to me. Office, Ward's Lane, next to the Dar lington Herald office. DARLINGTON MARBLE WORKS. DARLINGTON MARBLE WORKS. DARLINGTON MARBLE YVORKS. —ALL KINDS OF— MARBLE MONUMENTS, MARBLE MONUMENTS, Tablets and Grave Stones furnished a Short Notice, and as Cheap as can be Purchased Else where. HF" Designs and Prices Furnished on Application. KW~ All Work Delivered Free'on Line of C. & D. R. R. DARLINGTON MARBLE WORKS, DARLINGTON MARBLE WORKS, DARLINGTON, S. C. FIRE! FIRE! I Represent Twelve of the most Reliable Fire Insmance Compa nies in the World—Among them, the Liverpool and Lon don and Globe, of England, the Largest Fire Campany in the World; and the iEtna, o( Hart- lord, the Largest of all Ameti- ean Fire Companiea. Prompt Attention to Business and Satisfaction Guaranteed. F. E. NORMENT DARLINGTON, S. C. Office between Edwards, Norment & Mid Joy & Sanders', A MYSTERY.' Our baby boy ona day Folded his violet ayaa, And from his waxen clay His white soul flew away To far off Paradise. His little hands so fair. We crossed upon his brsast And standing by him there We gave him to the care Of one who doeth best. And when to final sleep We laid him soft and low, We could not help but heap Upon him lilies deep And roses pure as snow. And then, with courage great, His mother faced the years; But oft, when it was late, Among his toys she sate And fondled them with tears. But now another child. With wondrous violet eyes, Rests on her bosom mild. And smiles as he had smiled To-day in Paradise. And something seems to say To her, so sad before; “The soul that flew away Is back again to-day, Sweet mother, weep no morel” —George Horton, in Chicago Herald. Cleaning Out Pirates. During the year 1868 no less than three trading vessels fitted out at Singa pore for traffic in the Java Sea mysteri ously disappeared, and no trace of them could be discovered. Two more were added to the list early in 1869,and about July 1 it was whispered around that a nest of pirates had been discovered on an island off the north coast of Java. If the news was true the chieftain of the gang must be a bold fellow indeed, and needed looking after at once. The merchants at Singapore were talk ing of fitting out a ship to investigate when H. M. cruiser The Shark arrived. She was one of the old-fashioned tea- gun brigs once so numerous, and at that time was engaged in a survey of the south coast of Borneo, or about to be. As I was oae of her crew I can relate what happened during the next two weeks first-handed. It seemed that the story of the pirate was accepted as a fact, for we over hauled our armament, took in a lot of ammunition and strengthened our crew by fourteen men before sailing. These men were drafted out of a crew belong ing lo a man-of-war which had been wrecked on the Malay coast, and ail were old hands. The captain got his bearings from some source unknown to us, and when wc left Singapore the brig was headed to tiie cast. We jogged along down the coast of Sumatra for a week without finding any unusual inci dent, and though wc spoke a score of crafts none of them had any information about the pirate. The crew had begun to ridicule the idea when something oc curred to open our eyes very wide. One morning, about an hour after day light, wc came up with a Dutch trader, which was taking care of herself. All her sails had been cut away, lopes were flying iu every direction and she was so low in the water that we wondered whv she didn't go down. When a boat pulled off to her it was to find the cap tain mortally wounded and his wife and two sailors stiff and dead and horribly mutilated on the deck beside him. We got him off, but had no time to give the Undies burial before the little craft went down. The captain was a.man about forty years of age, and though hardly alive when wc found him he rallied enough to tell his story. The trader had been trafficking along the Java coast and had finally complete 1 his cargo and headed for Singapore, .lust at sunset on the previous evening he had been overhauled by a native craft carrying about forty men. He was then about ton miles off the coast and about five miles south of an island known as “Queen’s Bower.” He had no suspicion whatever of the natives, and the first thing he knew they boarded his craft and began to cut and slash. When they had finished the crew they began to plunder and strip the vesstl, and were with her until midnight. Before leaving they bored her full of holes, and we had reached her just in time to rescue the captain. The first craft was joined by two others later on, and the three car ried at least a hundred desperate fellows. The captain heard and understood enough to satisfy him that they were an organ ized gang of pirates and that they were also well equipped for their bloody busi ness. 'jibe island mentioned was not over twenty miles away, and as tho Java Sea was and is a great highway, it did not seem possible that men would take such a risk as those pirates had. The trader said that no less than three friendly sails were insight when he was attacked, but all too far away to signal, even if he had been warned in time to do some thing. Owing to the shoals surround ing the island our craft could not ap proach near enough to use her guns and shell the fellows out, and we wore not strong enough to laud from our boats nud deal with them. The sight of aa armed vessel nosing around would put pirates ou tneir guard, and so It was re solved to play tlicm a Yankee trick. We ran into a buy on the coast and set to work. You are probably aware of tha fact that an English man-of-war, no matter ! how large or how small, is a pattern of neatness and regulation, nud the oqt of her sails will alone establish her iden tity while her hull is yet below the water line. We had, therefore, to un do and overhaul a great deal. We put everything in seeming confusion aloft, disguised her hull as much as possible, and when wo left tho bay Tho Shark had the look of a merchantman which had been through a typhoon and was too short-handed to make repairs. Tho Dutch captain died on the diy alter we found him, and his last words were a prayer that we might fall in with and punish the pirates. It was just at daylight that we ap peared off the north coast of the island and anchored on a bank about three miles from the beach. Men were sen! aloft as if engaged in repairs, a boat was got down as if to work on the hull, and the bulk of the crew remained in hiding below. No doubt the fellows ashore had a lookout in some trees, and provided with a good glass he could see every- thing going on aboard. It was hardly sunrise when a small native craft with four men in her came out to within pistol- shot of us to make an investigation. Our captain hailed them and they replied with gestures of signify that they would return to the shore for help. They evidently took us for what we pretended to be, and we were piped to breakfast feeling that our ruse would succeed. About eight o’clock, with the wind breezing up lively, three native sail-craft put out for us. A man aloft with a glass reported that each craft was crowded with natives, and it was now our plan to weigh anchor and make a little sail and pretend to be standing away from them as if alarmed. The object was to draw them as far away from shore as possible, and we had added a mile or more to the distance when the foremost boat came witnin hail. Sho hadn't a gun of any sort in sight, but she had forty-eight desperate-looking villains in plain view, and every one of them had a cutlass and pistol. While her captain was hailing us iu a language do one could understand, she was slowly edging along down upon our starboard quarter. At the same time a second craft was drawing ahead on the port side, and the third kept in our wake. Only seven or eight men were in sight on our decks, and the natives seemed to have no suspicions of a trick. The breeze was a little bit too strong for their tnanceuvring at first, but after we were about six miles off shore the two sudden ly closed in to board us. Our captain had been closely watching them and Waiting for this move, and of a sudden the drum beat to quarters and our decks were alive with men. 1 was captain of No. 3 gun crew and had the honor of firing the first shot. It was a solid ball, and it struck the craft on her port bow and went clean through her and dropped into the sea beyond. This opened tho fight; the natives instantly realized that they had caught a Tartar, and they saw , too, that their only means of escape lay, in capturing the ship. Therefore, in stead of running away, as we had looked for, each craft bore down on us to board. They were handled as easily as an Indian manoeuvres a canoe, and it wasn’t five minutes after the first gun was tired ere they were on our quarters like wolves seeking to hamstring n deer. I fired another solid shot and then loaded with grape, and this last charge was fired right into a mass of natives waiting to' clamber up the side. The gun next to me fired a solid shot, which tore through her bottom, and two minutes later she foundered right along aide of us. The second craft got near enough to grapple, but the irons were thrown off, nud two guns played solid shot into her hull un til she went down stern foremost, leav- iug thirty men struggling in the wave* The third craft had forged ahead, sailing five feet to our one, and would have boarded us at the bows but for tho sudden destruction of the others. Their fate frightened her off, but she had scarcely laid her head for the island than it was brought mound as if the crew had made some desperate resolve. Now (secured a curious thing. She had about thirty men on board, and she came down on us with every one of them shouting and screaming and tried to lay us aboard. We could have sunk her with one gun even, or we could have picked off the whole crew with our muskets before they had crossed the rail. Word wai passed to give her a full broadside at the word, and when the smoke cleared away she was not to bo seen. There were over twenty of the pirates hanging to the wreckage around us, however, aud a boat was lowered to pick them up. You can judge of their desperation when I tell you that every one of them fought like a tiger against being picked up, and that we got only five out of the lot. Tho others we had to kill as they floated about with the sharks snapping at them. Two of the five leaped out of the boat after being pulled in and were seen no more, and the others gave us so much trouble that the captain swung them up to the yard-arm. Thus uot one single man of the hundred or more who came out to attack us escaped with his life. I was in one of the two boats afterwards sent ashore to see what sort of a lair the pirates had made for themselves. Tho only human beings ashore were an old native woman, a one-armed Japanese, and a white boy about fourteen years of age. This boy was off an English trader, cap- tured (he year before, and had been held prisoners ever since. He said they were 107 men in the gang, and we found enough plunder on the island to load our ship. They had captured about a dozen different vessels, large and small, and in every case had plundered and sunk them. They did not always kill all the crew. Soon after the bov was captured they brought in an American sailor oil a spice trader. The boy knew him only by the name of William, but remembered that his home was in Boston. It turned out that they had spared his life to make use of him as a blacksmith, but when they found that he had no Knowledge of that work he was put to death. By order of the chief he was hung in chains on a tree about a quarter of a mile away, and was eleven days in dying. The boy went with us and showed us his bones still hanging. The one-armed man and the old wo man, assisted by the boy, were the cooks for the gang. They at first seemed very much alarmed, and protested their innocence of any complicity in the crimes of the pirates, but when they came to understand that all the villains had met their fate, and that we had come ashore to clear the island of its last bale of plunder, they suddenly ran into a rude store-house, blocked up the doorway with boxes, and and opened fire on us with pistols. We had two men wounded before we could dislodge them, and they were then hanged to the same limb and their bodies left to the birds. What plunder we could not bring off we burned on the island, and before leaving we set tho forest on fire in a dozen places, and the flames did not die out until tho whole length and breadth had been swept clean of vegetation.—New York World. Acquitted After Nineieen Years. Touched by the frost of seventy years, old Jacob Staup, of Uniontown, Penn., finds himself at last out from under the shadow of a crime which has haunted him for nineieen years. He was only the other day acquitted, after standing trial for the third time, on a charge ol murder. Twice he had been convicted, and the singular feature of the case is that the first of these trials occurred nine teen and ihe second eighteen years ago. After the second trial he escaped from jail, and up to last March, when he was finally apprehended, he remained a fugi tive trom justice. An old neighbor of 8taup in Fayette County was the victim of the murder. There had been a feud between the fami lies, and this fact helped to convict Staup. Since the twice condemned mat escaped, eighteen years ago, however, his sou has died, and a deathbed confession of the latter, in which he admitted him self to have been the murderer, was oue of the features of the third trial, which has led to the old man's acquittal. The case is one probably without paral lel. Had Staup had been taken to the scaffold on his first condemnation and the eon's lips remained sealed he would have died an innocent man and the law would have committed unwitting mur der. Thit fortunate escape from be hind the bars and the successful main tenauce of liberty through long years, has enabled the old man at last to stand free and untrammeled. P erhaps, yes, even probably, his years on earth will not be many more, but at least they will not go out under the sorrow and digrace ol a terrible accusation and condemnation. —New York World. Floating Prairies of Louisiana. A curious phenomenon is to bo wit nessed at the Ames crevasse, says a New Orleans letter, and, indeed, is one of the causes of the great damage it has done. Under any circumstances the water from this crevasse would overflow the rich country lying between it and the Gulf ol Mexico, causing damage to the amount ol several million dollars, but, to the sur prise of many, not content with running down stream and overflowing the country below, it has taken to running apparently up stream. Some curiosity was felt ovci this phenomenon, and the case on exam- inatiou shows it to be duo to the prairies tremplanets—the floating or trembling prairies of southern Louisiana. All along the gulf coast the large border of land flaats on the surface of the water. The laud is made by fallen timber and grasses. It gradually accumulates dirt, and be comes in the course of time sufficiently firm to support brushes and even trees, but the soil is only three inches or less thick, and below it is the water, upon which it floats on account of its light ness. Occasionally pieces of trembling prairie are detached and become floating islands. There are quite a number of these in Salvador, these lauds, flouting from side to side, being frequently car ried at a rapid rate by the wind breeze, trees acting as sails to catch the wind,— Commercial Advertiser. A new and singular custom that is glowing up in New York City is that of hiring private dining- rooms in swell restaurants by rich corporations and by coteries and cliques. In one Broadway restaurant a private room is leased by the year by a great news company, the next one is used by n noted firm of criminal lawyers, a third is hired by several judges, and so on. These groups thus •ecure privacy, their own particular waiters and a place to take their favorite friends, customers and client* *t luncheon time. TIIE GERMAN COURT. PLEASURE’S GAY ROUND IN EM- PEROR WILLIAM’S H£>ME — Ranting the Favorite Diversion ot the Emperor—The Ceremony of Be stowing Decorations — Presenta tions to Emperor and Empress. The season devoted to amusement is lather short in the German metropolis,' says a writer in the San Francisco Chronicle. Official court festivities be gin January 18th and last till Lent. After the beginning of Lent private par ties with dancing are tolerated, but it is more fashionable to have dinners, routs or musicales, and such mild pleasures. After “Mi-laremc” all paities cease, and only theatres and concerts are visited till Easter week brings utter retirement to all those belonging to society. I shall try to give _a short glimpse of the events of the past winter season, which was the first under the reign of William II. without mourning. After the New Y’ear ceremonies the Imperial court lived in retirement, because of the confiucmeut and convalescence of tho Empress. Thus the Emperor found leisure for hunting, which is his favorite pleasure. The best sport was found at Konigswustcrhauseu, a small place in the midst of large pine forests, where wild boars abound. Here the Emperor hunted for two days, staying the night at a small hunting lodge where his fore fathers used to remain during hunting time. The boars are driven together by hun dreds of drivers, under the guidance of the imperial gamekeepers, and the Em peror and his guests stand at appointed places, and when the animals rush past have the best opportunity to shoot. In seven days 328 animals were killed, some of great size and astonishing weight. Tho Emperor shoots very well with a gun or rifle, aud has been known to kill 300 head of game in one day. On such hunting expeditions the Em peror always wears forest uniform, dark gray cloth, with green fastenings and silver cords, together with a felt hat. This uniform is only nhowed by imperial permission, aud is permitted, for in stance, to royal relations or personal friends of the Emperor who are good sportsmen. Ail the game that has been killed is laid out in rows and the Em peror and his guests look them over, aud a bugle sounds the halloo. At the little castle dinner is served to the hun gry party, and usually some hours after the company returns by train to Berlin. On the 18th of January the Veders- t'est, or “Decoration Festival,” was cele brated, together with the anniversary of the Prussian Coronation day and the proclamation of the new German empire in 1871. This festival is for all those who received decorations during the past year and of those about to receive orders on this day. The cavaliers of the Vedcr of the Black Eagle arc always present, as well as the cavaliers of the Yeder of Johanuister, receiving their gorgeous uniforms, which belong to the Voders, and the grand cloaks of red vel vet or black silk, which make them look very picturesque. The Emperor wears a red cloak, which is most becoming to him. But there arc also some present iu plain clothes among the many glitter ing uniforms, for decorations are given to men of merit of all classes,aud worthy laborers, with the “AUgemeine Ehren- reichen,” a gold medal, stand near pri vate soldiers, also decorated for acts of courage. A good many ladies aie also among the decorated ones. Charity and work in the cense of the poor are re warded by the Guiseucross, or Vcrdieus- eross, worn on the left shoulder, a more becoming ornament than fine diamonds or jewels, iu the sight of God and man. When all the guests, who numbered 1250 this year, were assembled, the Emperor repaired with them to Castle chapel, where divine service was celebrated, fol lowed by a dinner in the gorgeous halls of the Castle, nud at the end of it the Emperor proposes to the health of “all those that have been decorated,” thus closing the grand entertainment. The christening of tho sixth son of the Imperial Majesties on the 26th of Janu ary, was the next court festival. The baby, born on the 17th of December, re ceived the name of Joachim, aud after the christening in one of the imperial rooms, the Empress was thumbed. The invited company, specially the royal god fathers and godmothers from other courts, assembled for a state dinner in the great White Hall. The following day, the 27th of January, was the birth day of the Emperor, now 32 years old. It was celebrated in great style by official congratulations and much public cheer ing whenever the Emperor appeared. On this day, in a small, cozy dining room, only royalty assembled, and the whole dinner was served on silver, all the plates beautifully engraved with tho Prussian arms. The table ornaments and candelabra were of gold, the cut crystal of exquisite workmanship, and the white damask linen of the finest texture. The hangings of the room were dark red with gold fringes; the furniture of chiseled oak. The lackeys weie in stockings, witli gorgeous liveries and powdered heads. One of them was sta tioned behind each chair. The service was as noiseless and quick as uossible; tnso o diaub, waraiawc; .'•>«hmaer tUan an hour. Court balls, soirees and dinners fol lowed quickly one upon the other. At the levee newcomers arc introduced to the Fmperor and Empress. The ladies appear in court trains of the length of three meters, carried over the left arm and only let down at the time of the in troduction, when the introduced lady makes her three deep curtsies before their Majesties, standing on the throne. Those already introduced only walk past the throne with the court reverence, and 2000 persons are often in these proces sions. The balls are given in the White Hall and arc the occasion for merry dancing and much amusement to the younger nembers of society. The arrangement >f all these festival) is made by the Hop narscballe and the staff of Kammcrherrn n their very beautiful uniforms, models >f court discipline. Even the smallest letails are managed to perfection. The Miquette aud order are faultless. The invited guests all belong to the nobility, iither of birth and family or mind. Many aoblemen with their wives and daughters come every winter to Berlin to attend at court, and many more are in Parliament tnd also attend. Here are also to be icen men of science, ot literary tame, and remarkable artists. The officers of the guard regiments of Berlin and Pots dam are always present, and turnish the partners for the many pretty girls who arc renowned for their chams. The ladies’ toilets are rich and elegant and very tasteful, though usually made at Berlin, Frankfort or Vienna. Mow Cannibals Do Their Cooking. “Y'ou don't hear much about them, hut there are cannibals in Australia to- day,” said Dr. F. D. Clum to a Kansas City Tima reporter. “Strange? Well, not so very when you take into consid eration the character of the country. The blacks or aborigines still wear breech clouts, and when yet a short distance from civilization you will find that the majority of them wear no appirel ol any description. The Australian black bears about the same relation to that country that the American savage does to this. “When you get away from the cities into the brush you will find plenty of them who would kill you, and there U nothing ihey would relish better than to make a barbecue out of you, provided that there was no danger of being caught. Collectively they have the greatest fear of the white man, for they know th it he punishes severely. They prefer to roast their victims. A stew they consider very good, but, as a rule, they lack the utensils and means of making broth. When a plump white stranger is cap tured and killed the body is carefully prepared. It is then bound to a stout green pole, which is supported at either end about two and a half feet from the earth by forked sticks. “Between the sticks a fire is built,and when the proper number of coals are made, the green pole, with its choice morsel, is put atop, and it is there per mitted to simmer aud roast until done U a turn, the man caters occasionally stick ing their knives into the body to test th* degree of doueness. Cannibalism on the island, however, is gradually dying out. The blacks are of a very low order ol 'intelligence. The Maoris in New Zea land are a much more enlighteue I peo ple.” A Tnief Exposed by a Lobster. Au ordinary lobster acting as a de tective is an anomaly iu natural or any other history. Paris (writes a corre spondent) boasts of a crustacean which has accomplished the feat of assisting justice to bring home the full magnitude of her guilt to a female thief, whose specialty consisted in making predatory excursions round grocers’ shops in ordei to annex articles hanging up or displayed for sale outside these establishments. French grocers, it must be added, fre qucntly sell shell fish as well as coffee, sugar and spice, and one of these trades men, living in the Rue Viclle du Tern pie, had a nice assortment of marine edibles outside his place of business the other day. A tolerably well dressed woman was observed by a shop assistant taking some small ai tides from the exterior collec tion of goods, and was speedily given in charge to the police. At the station the prisoner was being interrogated by an inspector when suddenly the muscles ol her face contracted; she clenched her teeth aud hands, and exhibited all the symptoms of a person in agony. The woman went on in this way for some time, to the stupefaction of the police official, when she at last shook her dress violently, and out dropped a large, live lobster. The delinquent confessed that she had stolen the crustacean from the grocer, had tied it up under her mantle, and at tached it t* her girdle. At the critical moment of her interrogation the lobster had worked its claws loose, and began to apply them vigorously to the waist ol its captor, whose bodice was badly torn. The woman was sent at once to the de pot, the preternaturally acute crustacean beim; relumed to its lawful owner. Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt, of New York City, 1* said to have paid #12,000 for her new team of carriage horses. They were bought in Pari* and are deuii- range Percherons, half bloode, aud are betuUMy matahtd' ... SANTA FE. IT IS THE OLDEST TOWN IN THE UNITED STATES. It Contains the Oldest House and tho Oldest Church In America,and Perhaps the Oldest Palace In the World. Santa Fc, New Mexico, says a St. Louis Hepuhlic correspondent, the city of the holy faith of St. Francis, is the trade centre and until recently the military, headquarters of the Southwest. It is the oldest civil and religious Government ou American soil. When Cabeza de Baca penetrated the valley of the Rio Grande in 1538 he found Santa Fe a flourishing Pueblo village. The history of its first European settlements was lost with most of the early records of the Territory by the destruction of all the archives in 1680, hut the earliest mention shows it then to have been the capital aud the centre of commerce, authority and influence. Iu 1804 came the first venturesome American trader—the forerunner of the great line of merchants who have made traffic over the “Santa Fe” world wide in its celebrity. In the city of Santa Fe, previous to 1538, dwelt a race dissimilar to any now existing. They were neither Aztec nor Indian, nor yet were they Mound Build ers. Houses built by these people are standing as a conclusive evidence that they built not for one generation, but for ceuturies. Their manners and customs were like those races who occupied the mountainous regions of Northern and Western Mexico. Resembling the Indian in physical appearance, yet they lived and constructed houses after the manner of *he earliest Aztec civilization. In the southeastern part of the ancient village of Santa Fe just across the Santa Fe River, stand two monuments of pre historic architecture, the oldest house and the oldest church in America. Their exact age is unknown. They stand as enduring monuments to a race of people extinct, not of any intention or wanton neglect on their part, but for the con tinued wars waged by savage Spanish explorers and still more savage bands of hostile Indians. After driving the last inhabitant from the village, the conquering Spaniards set up a government of their own, and in 1550, alter the close of the conquest, built many houses that are to-day stand ing in various sections of the city. Ou the south side of the Plaza Juan de Otermin, the first Spanish Governor built his palace, the only one ever erected in America. For many generations tho palace was occupied by the Spanish Gov ernors aud Captain-Generals until forced or driven out by the Indians in 1680 after besieging the city for nine days. Remaining iu the hands of the Indians lor many years, it was finally retaken by the Mexicans. The palace was again occupied by the Mexican Governor and had been continually until taken by tho American forces in 1846 and 1848. Thus wo have in the Executive Mausiou of New Mexico perhaps the oldest palace in the world. As it stands to-day, com plete and perfect in all its appointments-, with proper care a thousand years may glide swiftly by, and in its grandeur, outshining the ruins of Balbec or of Tyre, the American people will rejoice iu the antiquities they possess, founded centuries before the birth of the grandest republic that ever governed a people. On account of its antiquity and of its position as the most northern outpost of Spanish-American civilization, Santa Fe claims our attention to-day. It is of another civilization, and one feels as in a foreign land. The historic old churches of San Miguel aud Guadaloupe were erected by the Franciscan Fathers, who accompanied tho Spaniards into the country as missionaries, the first about 1350, the second some fifty or seventy- five years later. Iu 1680 the Indians re belled against the Spaniards and drove them from the country. They at once burned down the chapels and other pub lic buildings aud residences; collected the church saints on the piazza and burned them; forbid the use of a word of the Spanish language aud swore their iutention to wash away the baptism of the Catholic priests, aud allowed those who hud been married by them to put away their wives and take others. They utterly destroyed everything pertaining to the Spaniards. Twelve years later the Spaniards returned and again itduced the Indians to submission. The men were sent to the forests aud the churches were soou rebuilt. Until within a few years all the houses of Santa Fe were made ot mud pressed and sun-baked iu fmin resembling our unburnt brick, though far less symmetri cal. Adobe is the name applied by natives to this class of building material, aud a house built of this always lias an ap- pea ancc of great antiquity and also of impending dissolution. To conviuee one of the great age of ci riliz I’ioa found here he has but to glance at the native built houses with their accompanying out-door hake-ovens. No one but a Pueblo Indian could have devised anything so deter minedly ugly, and sometimes one is tempted to believe that the old Aztec deities must have assisted in their con struction, just to show how hideous a place man could build and still call it home. These houses hqve do eatruacei on the grouna ana me terraces are reacnea Oy ladders. Some of the houses were made before the first Spanish Conquest, as can be seen by the rafters, which were hewn by stone implements. Only less curious than the relics of the ino-.nd-builders and more valuable because more available, these ancient pueblos possess a wonderful interest for the student and a weird attraction for the tourist despite their peculiar style of architecture. CURIOUS FACTS. It costs $33 to patent a carpet design. It is said that the slot machine is over ISO years old. i The ordinary watch gives 116,144,- 000 ticks during the year. At Eddy, New Mexico, a stratum of salt has been struck which is forty feet thick. The name Nebraska was first applied to the river. Iu the Indian language it means shallow water. An Atchison (Kan.) girl who is about to bo married has announced that she will pay the expenses of the wedding tour. There arc 325,000 acres of olive trees in Greece. They come into full bearing when twenty years old. Tne best grape crop is that of the currant grape. Buddha is worshiped in Paris in vari ous private temples, the devotees being chiefly Japanese, but many of them are Frenchmeu aud a few Englishmen. At North Adams. Mass., the other day a couple who were united iu marriage in church before the regular service went at once into the choir and assisted in the singing. The number of lives lost by accident and disease iu the coustruction of the Panama Canal is conjectural. Many writers agree that it is something like 20,000. A jeweler has iuseuted a devise for use iu sleeping cars that promises to be come popular. It is a ladder composed of tubes of leather, that provide easy access to upper berths. Alaska was discovered by Vitus Behr ing as late as 1711, and became and re mained Russian territory by right of discovery until it passed to the United States by purchase in 1807. Oceania or Oceanica comprises all the islands and archipelagos in the Pacific Ocean, and is often divided into four great divisions named Malaysia, Micone- sia, Australasia aud Polynesia. Henry Wagner, an old German gar dener, was digging in bis garden at Du buque, Iowa, when he turned up the rust-incrusted blade of an ancient sword. Near the hilt could be made out a scroll inclosing the date 1589. The sword it thought to be a relic of the early French explorers who first visited the valley of the Mississippi. The state bed of the last King of Po land was made of Smyrna gold braid, embroidered iu turquoises, with verses I i o:n the Koran, its supports were of silver gilt, beautifully chased and pro fusely set with enameled and jeweled medallions. It had been taken from the Turkish camp before Vienna, and the standard of Mahomet had stood under it. Plans for the irrigation, both in upper and lower Egypt, during the periods of low water in the Nile, include the build ing of a high barrage across the river at the first cataract. Great opposition has been excited against this proposition, as it involves the submersion of the beautiful island of Philte aud its mag nificent monuments for several months each year. Midgets and Giants at a Wedding. A wedding of aa extraordinary char acter took place at the Registrar’s office at South Shields recently, the bridal pait being a little lady miss, who is only thirty-two inches in height, and Profes sor Hcdlcy, solo euphonium player, whe is six feet one iuch in height. The gen tlcman who gave the lady away was M. Hubert, a man without arms, who signed the marriage certificate as a witness witb a pen between his teeth, and the brides maids were Nma, an American giantess, who is forty-four stone in weight, aud Setonella, the “Fire Queen.” The best man was Captain Dallas, who is seven feet ten inches in height, and General Metclenc, who is t wenty-nine aud one- half inches in height, formed one of the party, all of whom are connected with a menagerie and circus which is traveling through the country. — Pall Mall Gazette. A Ouecr Waterspaut. A queer sight was witnessed at Craw ford, Ua., a few days ago by a large number of citizeus. It was something in the clouds that looked like a water spout. It appeared iu a southern diree- tiou, aud seemed about as large as a Hour barrel iu size and extended from the earth to the clouds above. It looked ex actly like a stream of water pouring out of the clouds. Wo have been told that the thing reached the ground near An tioch and that the stream was not water but dust aud trash that was drawn up towards the clouds. Nothing of the kind was ever seen about here before.— Atlanta Constitution. A boy of ten and a girl of t • e’vo In one of the public schools at Portland, Me., are sub ject* of a good deal of curi osity, hh both arc bald as billiard ball*,